A team of environmental educators (Barbara Garrity, Selena Connealy, Dr. Stephanie Bestelmeyer, and Dr. Pedro Chavarria) took the NM Environmental Literacy Plan to the NM Public Education Department leadership in early August.
During the meeting, they presented the ELP to PED’s Secretary Hanna Skandera, Deputy Secretary Leighann Lenti and Science and Math Dept. Director Lesley Galyas. The group discussed the importance of EE in schools, its connections to STEM and how it helps prepare students for college and careers.
While the plan and efforts to support teachers to incorporate environmental education in their teaching were appreciated by the PED leadership, Secretary Skandera was not ready to add anything to their purview right now. She did indicate that timing may be better when/if they adopt the Next Generation Science Standards in the near future. She also suggested that we talk to other state agencies about supporting the plan.
Would you like to get involved with the team working to move the ELP forward? Please let Barbara know!
This article was originally published in EE Connections for August 2015.